.......that's what I felt like & probably closely resembled! Sluggish right from the start of the warm up etc. Some days it's like that I think...just difficult to get going.

I'd measured a 1.5 km out & back section of the road near the Mittagong airstrip, the flattest I could find, but even then some slight ups & downs, potholes & a few cars to dodge. Overcast, windy, but not a gale; 11:00am start, not realizing there had been a tailwind until the turn around when it became a headwind!

Today's time was 18:12 -1.5km out in 9:56 (should have been nearer 9:00);1.5km back in : 8:15. Not a PB but faster than 18:22 on 10th August.

I did the best I could, but didn't feel good, all of it was hard work...if that makes sense! Next week, I start some training on a real track... ...now, that will be interesting & should help Chickybabe to run out of sight, even if only on a dark night!

Sunday, September 25, 2005

......even the cows were amused to see this sluggard sauntering past this morning!

An overcast, cool morning with quite a heavy fog on the ranges, I put in some walk breaks because that's what I felt like doing! In this ambling fashion 80 minutes became 90 minutes. Now for this week's program.....

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Friday, September 23, 2005

I think I'd better hide! I'm pretty sure I made a mess of today session as I did the important bits in reverse order!

I did the 20 minutes warm up on grass, 4x100m strides, stretched & walked to the start of the first km which should have been run in 6:30, walk back to the start & the second km in 6:20. The important part was to run the second km faster than the first!

Instead, I ran the 1st km easily in 5:44 & felt very comfortable; I would have had to slow right down to extend the time to a 6:00 min/km & thought I wouldn't have to try much harder to run the second km just 10 seconds faster!! WRONG! The seconds slipped away & by the time I looked at my watch, it was too late even though I made a huge dash to finish...2nd km was 6:00 minutes! So did I do the 1st km too fast or should I have pushed harder in the 2nd km?? Only time & Ewen will tell!! Report card tonight!

Glorious day; very warm; all the spring blossoms bloomin' their little buds off; walked leisurely 3km back home thinking : now, why did I get that so wrong??

Report Card :1) Following instructions 4/102) Performance 8/103) Form 8/10 (that's a guess as I didn't see you run)4) Learning 9/10

This report is being very generous, I think, as I was expecting 0/10 for #1.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

And another lunch date! But first off, did what the program says : 20 minutes 'easy' run.Walked 5 minutes to a dirt track covered with pine needles, 20 minutes easy jog, 5 minutes walk home; then another enjoyable lunch with a friend from Sydney.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Today's 20 minutes will have to wait until tomorrow! Sydney friends for lunch (we didn't eat them, I think we entertained them!) so.......lots of talking, lots of laughter & lots of good reds. No typos errors so far, so I must have been really, really good! Yes, tehre's one...'typos'; oops there's another...'tehre's.

Monday, September 19, 2005

An easy 30 minutes this morning...beautiful day.....legs OK after yesterday's 10km......still very happy with that! Tired last night though after driving to Canberra, running & driving back, but so pleased I made the effort!

............I think I'll soon be able to run out of sight...but only on a dark night! Nevertheless, I practically flew today!! Finished in 65 minutes (neg. split 3 mins.).........fastest 10km in the last 12 months.....2 of which were 75 minutes (Fitzroy Falls) & 67 minutes (Fisher's Ghost) both in 2004. Ewen thinks I'll be drug tested soon....isn't he sweet?! And what a coach!

Left Mittagong at 6:00a.m. & in Canberra just before 8:00a.m. for what was to be perfect running weather; plenty of time to queue for loos as usual & warm up for the 9.45a.m. start with over 2000(?) 10km runners & 1500(?) 5km walkers who started at our 5km mark. At my slower pace I got caught up with the walkers but managed to wriggle my way around & through them & zoomed along the cycle track without getting lost!!

The course was good...a few long inclines & some very welcome declines. A short, steep slope was something of a surprise at the very end of the run! It was great to meet up with more Cool Runners & relax for a while on the shores of the Lake before driving back to Mittagong.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Friday, September 16, 2005

I walked 1km to the soccer field so that I could run on the softer grass surface for 15 minutes + 4 x 100m strides & then 1km walk home. I did this because I have a bit of an ache down the outside of my lower left leg since Sunday's half marathon & hoping it won't give me trouble in Flash Duck's CR Girls Team on Sunday in the 'Canberra Times' Family Fun Run; will take a rest day tomorrow & keep icing the area & see how it is then. I don't want to have to pull out, but then again I don't want to end up with having to take time out later with an injury.

Oh, I did enjoy this run; I loved it! Ran with Owl all the way & Omni for most of the way. We called out to all the CRs we knew & all the ones we didn't know!

What made this special was having others with & around me all the way out & back. We might not have passed too any on the way out, but for the last 5km or so, we simply flew along passing young & old (!) until Observatory Hill where I, not Owl, almost came to a standstill; almost but not quite! That was a horror of a hill! In fact the entire course is a hard one that I'd forgotten about.

Then for the last few kms, Chickybabe simply took wing & flew down Macquarie street alarmed at her own speed!! I'm certain that the Time Trials I've been doing for a mere 4-5 weeks have been of great significance in helping me to finish faster & more easily over a longer distance than ever before. Even the poor darling Wombat, who had been waiting for me at 1.5km from the finish, had the most awful trouble trying to keep up with me!!!! Will this student outrun her teacher?

After a great race, we enjoyed a leisurely stroll over the Harbour Bridge reached by an agonizing climb up dozens of steps...Ewen carrying the bags, me doubled-up, moaning & groaning with quad pain! We followed this with a pleasant lunch with Robert & Flash Duck & then headed back to Mittagong for a cup of tea, a Bex & bit of birthday cake.... starting from the heel, we've finally reached the licorice shoe laces!!

Another great run! But nearly forgot the splits! Missed the 5km sign so no split for that section!Other splits were - @ 10km 1:14:24; @ 15km 36:54; 20km 36:32; @ 21.1km 4:52.

Friday, September 09, 2005

25 minutes slow, but forgot to do the 'strides' at the end! Oh well.....! Results book from GC marathon tells me I've set a new race record (age-category) for that course! So there really are some other slower runners after all!

Driving to Sydney in the morning with Ewen who will probably drag me out to do the 'strides' in the arvo!

Hot here to day; some clouds rolling in; rain is forecast; I hope it's cooler in Sydney on Sunday....so looking forward to the day!! I need to remind myself that : "As long as I enjoy the run, it will have been a success, no matter the time!"